Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

The relationship between overweight and otitis media with effusion in children

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 279–282 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the relationship between pediatric otitis media with effusion (OME) and body mass index (BMI).

Methods:

We assessed 140 children aged 2–7 years who underwent unilateral or bilateral ventilation tube insertion for treatment of OME (experimental group) and 190 children with no history of OME who underwent operations for conditions other than ear diseases during the same period. Each group was divided into four subgroups based on BMI by age and gender: underweight (BMI below normal limits; BMI⩽5th percentile), normal (BMI within normal limits; 5th<85th percentile), overweight (BMI over normal limits; 85th⩽BMI<95th percentile) and obese ( BMI⩾95th percentile). We explored differences in BMI, and serum triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), between the experimental and control group, in comparison with values from those of standard body weight.

Results:

The prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in the experimental than in the control group (P<0.05). BMI, TG and TC did not, however, differ significantly between groups, according to standard body weight.

Conclusion:

Pediatric obesity may have an effect on the development of OME, but pediatric overweight may be not associated with occurrence of OME.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Klein JO, Tos M, Hussl B, Naunton RF, Ohyama M, van Cauwenberge PB . Recent advances in otitis media. Definition and classification. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1989; 139: 10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gortmaker SL, Dietz WH, Sobol AM, Wehler CA . Increasing pediatric obesity in the United States. Am J Dis Child 1987; 141: 535–540.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Troiano RP, Flegal KM, Kuczmarski RJ, Campbell SM, Johnson CL . Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1963 to 1991. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1995; 149: 1085–1091.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Styne DM . Childhood and adolescent obesity: prevalence and significance. Pediatr Clin North Am 2001; 48: 823–854.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kim JB, Park DC, Cha CI, Yeo SG . Relationship between pediatric obesity and otitis media with effusion. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2007; 133: 379–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, Gail MH . Cause-specific excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA 2007; 298: 2028–2037.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Nutrition. Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity. Pediatrics 2003; 112: 424–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ahn HS . Pediatrics. 8th edn. Daehan printing & Publishing: Seoul, Korea, 2005; 1232–1248.

    Google Scholar 

  9. World Health Organization Expert Committee. Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. WHO technical report series World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 1995; 854.

  10. Stool SE, Bluestone CD, Field MJ . Studies in otitis media Pittsburgh otitis media reseach center progress report 1982. Ann Oto Rhinol Laryngol Suppl 1983; 92: 6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kim LS, Han CS . Pathophysiology of otitis media with effusion. J Clinical Otolaryngol 2000; 11: 197–205.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ebbeling CB, Pawlak DB, Ludwig DS . Childhood obesity; public-health crisis, common sense cure. Lancet 2002; 360: 473–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Barlow SE, Dietz WH . Obesity evaluation and treatment: expert committee recommendations. J Pediatr 1998; 102: 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sokol RJ . The chronic disease of childhood obesity: the sleeping giant has awakened. J Pediatr 2000; 136: 711–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Schachter LM, Salome CM, Peat JK, Woolcock AJ . Obesity is a risk for asthma and wheeze but not airway hyperresponsiveness. Thorax 2001; 56: 4–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Chu YT, Chen WY, Wang TN, Tseng HI, Wu JR, Ko YC . Extreme BMI predicts higher asthma prevalence and is associated with lung function impairment in school-aged children. Pediatr Pulmonol 2009; 44: 472–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Shibli R, Rubin L, Akons H, Shaoul R . Morbidity of overweight (&gt;or=85th percentile) in the first 2 years of life. Pediatrics 2008; 122: 267–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jaffe M, Kosakov C . The motor development of fat babies. Clin Pediatr (phila) 1982; 21: 619–621.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. S H Kim and D C Park: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea

    S H Kim, J Y Byun, M S Park, C I Cha & S G Yeo

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

    D C Park

Authors
  1. S H Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D C Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J Y Byun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M S Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C I Cha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S G Yeo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S G Yeo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, S., Park, D., Byun, J. et al. The relationship between overweight and otitis media with effusion in children. Int J Obes 35, 279–282 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.144

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.144

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links